Read the first chapter of Unlocking the Mystery of You by D.L. Anderson

Do
you know who the most important person in your life is? Just look in
the mirror and you will see – it’s you. Whether you’re a college
student, a housewife, a salesman, or the president of the United States
of America, the most important person in your life is and will always be
you.

That being said, your primary objective in life should be to
know who you are so that you can position yourself to succeed in
offices aligned with your purpose. After all, your purpose is the
collective reasoning behind your existence. As one philosopher puts it,
“Purpose is the only real reason you are here, for you exist because
your purpose exists. Thus apart from purpose, you have no authentic
motivation for living. You may very well exist, but when you’re gone,
very few will ever know that you were here.”

Now for some of us
discovering our purpose is simple. We understood it long before we ever
became adults. For others it is not so easy, and for more reasons than I
can gather. This is why the process of personal discovery is so
critical; for not only does it allow you to discover your purpose. It
also positions you to persistently follow the evolution of your purpose.

This
is important because we are all changing every day. Consequently, our
purpose will also change contingent to the season of life we are in.
Still, in spite of this inevitable change and all the complexities which
make understanding your purpose difficult, you will always be able to
detect your purpose simply because it is the source of your fulfillment.
So if you’re in a job, relationship, or any office which is
persistently unfulfilling, odds are it is not aligned with your purpose –
and unless you are willing to concede the awesome measures of
fulfillment you would experience otherwise, you need to start thinking
about making a change so that you can both enhance your life and have
profound impacts in the various groups and societies you are in.

“Unlocking
the Mystery of You” champions this cause focusing first and foremost on
purpose and the crucial role it plays in achieving personal fulfillment
and setting the stage for the individual to be a catalyst for group
fulfillment. It accomplishes this goal by utilizing a purposeful roadmap
designated as the Pinnacle of Purpose. The Pinnacle of Purpose is a
progressive path illustrated by 7 ascending levels which, if followed
sequentially, not only have the power to transform your life. It will
provide you with the greatest measures of fulfillment and success life
can offer. All you have to do is follow the crucial, yet simple order of
purpose, beginning with confidence and concluding with peace.

So
if you’re ready for a change; if you’re ready to stop sleeping on your
dreams and your truest passions; if you’re tired of the status quo and
living a life which feels incomplete; if you’re tired of wishing your
life was better and are now prepared to do something about it; if you’re
finally ready to take that ever-difficult leap of faith, then this is a
book you must read. Because in this book I show you how to take that
leap of faith without falling, for when you leap towards your purpose,
you will always land squarely on your feet.

This is true first and
foremost because your purpose is what makes you unique to every other
individual in the world today, a premise which thoroughly validates the
existence of every man and women on the earth. The problem is that many
don’t understand their purpose. Once upon a time I didn’t either. That
is until I got serious about life. It was then that I realized what
purpose is.
It is the collection of all your authentic desires; it
is your passion. It is your North Star and your direction; it is your
life-long teacher – and above all else, it is that which causes you to
press through any form or measure of adversity until you unleash your
maximum potential, for it gives you the strength to hold on when you
have no strength left within you to hold on.

First Chapter:

I DID IT ON PURPOSE

“I didn’t do it on purpose”
was one of my favorite sayings as a child. Why? It is because this
confession had gotten me out of trouble on possibly 1,000 occasions, a
minor exaggeration to be sure. In any event, these 6 words were
priceless because they constituted my original “get out of jail free
card” and saved me in several sticky situations.

Now this card
didn’t work all the time, mind you. After all, there were some things I
did which I could neither honestly nor semi-honestly justify with my
patented excuse, and I wasn’t going to compromise the longevity of my
lucky card for any incident which was clearly inexcusable. No sir; I was
going to drink from this well until the water ran dry – which it did
and much sooner than I would have liked. Alas, all good things must come
to an end.

Fast-forward several years in time. Here you’ll find
me with a much different outlook on life and a new preferred saying.
That would be, “I did it on purpose,” a definitive statement which
speaks to one of the most profound realities in life. As such, I will
offer it as an interest point.

Classically this is where the
rubber meets the road; for as everything we do is incontestably on
purpose, our consistent actions reveal who we are with regards to our
inner self as opposed to our personal face-value. Accordingly, it is our
actions more so than our words which tell the tale of the man or woman
we’re trying to be.

Notwithstanding, this tale does not always
reflect who we truly are. In this regard, some of us at face-value are
pretenders who are trying to be someone they’re not. This is why
establishing our life upon a firm foundation of purpose is so vital, for
the consistent inundation of purpose ensures our intentions and
consequent actions are perfectly aligned with our destiny. Therefore,
the first step in unlocking your personal mystery is dedicating yourself
to being yourself and living a life of purpose.

TRUE YOU

Now
if you’re like me, you know very few people who consistently say what
they mean and mean what they say. You know even fewer people who without
fail practice what they preach. Why the inconsistency? For the most
part it’s because their lives are established on conflicting purposes;
hence the irregularity.

Then again if you’re like me, you may have
noticed this contradictory trend a time or two in your own life. So
what did you do? I’ll tell you what I did – I set out on a personal
journey to discover a path where everything I did was not only on
purpose, but with purpose; specifically purposes which reflected “the
real me.”

Who am I referring to when I mention the real me?
Definitively I am referring to the man I would turn out to be after I
successfully established my purpose in life. That is the man I was
destined to become before various conflicting factors set me off-course
and led me down paths contrary to my destiny. Consequently, if there is a
real me, there must be a version of me who is not as real.

I’ll
never forget the first time I heard someone teach on the concept of true
north. It was during an astronomy lecture at Ball State University. I
remember thinking to myself, “If there is a true north, then what is the
regular north I’ve been learning since kindergarten?”

Of course
everything made more sense at the end of the lecture. Without going into
the details, there are multiple manifestations of the astronomical
concept of north. However, only one of these manifestations is true
north; that is the direction along the earth’s surface towards the
geographic North Pole. The other variations may at times be congruent
and persistently similar. Yet they are not consistently the same as true
north.

The same rule applies to all of us. See the majority of us
exhibit multiple manifestations. The two prevailing manifestations are
“you now” and “true you.” You now is the person you are at this present
moment. True you is the person you will become once all of your singular
purposes are properly aligned and consequently coherent. Accordingly,
the search for purpose in life is actually a search for the most
authentic version of you. It’s the elongated process in which you
discover and are converted into true you.

STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY

The
next question we must attend to is this – why is it important for us to
be true to ourselves? Honestly I could provide over 100 reasons why
this cause is beyond essential. However, I would like to focus on 1 in
particular; that is diversity.

Certainly diversity is a prominent
pillar of every progressive society. For an example consider a football
team and ask yourself this question – how effective would a team be if
everyone on the offense was a quarterback and everyone on the defense
was a linebacker? Trust me; not only would this team be unsuccessful.
They wouldn’t be very enjoyable to watch (unless perhaps you were
rooting for the opposing team).

Therefore, I would ask you to
consider this follow-up question – if everyone in your society (e.g.
business unit, family or organization) were a carbon copy of the person
next to them, how successful would your society be? Think about it.

Here’s
the next point I would like to make – every progressive society is
depicted by roles which are fulfilled by the successful administration
of an over-arching, correlating assignment (which I will consciously
refer to as an office throughout this composition). A principal key to
the success of each society, then, is that each office is occupied by
the person best suited to fulfill its corresponding roles. In every
other case, the inclusive lack from a poor arrangement will prevent the
society from reaching its full potential. As such, it would continually
degenerate until corrective actions are taken.

Almost 10 years ago
I was the Director of Consulting Services at one of the largest IT
firms based out of Indiana. There I enjoyed managing one of my favorite
and most successful teams. It was also one of my most diverse teams, a
crucial factor which positioned us to incur awesome measures of success;
more success than we would have achieved otherwise.

Upon
understanding this development, I began actively looking for ways to
increase the diversity of our team. Thus whenever I interviewed
potential candidates to fill open positions, I first considered the
members currently on the team. Then I not only looked for the candidate
who exceeded my expectations; I also looked for someone who would add
diversity to our group.

Masterfully my strategy proved correct
every time the team grew. By gradually increasing the diversity of our
team, we found ourselves consistently innovated with new ideas,
processes, and ways of thinking in general.

Sure we had a pretty
large group of seasoned professionals who possessed awesome talents and
the ability to get a lot done. However, the greatest source of our
strength was not our numbers or our expertise. It was our diversity and
the awesome opportunities it presented us.

THE WORLD NEEDS YOU

At
the same time, I learned that managing and participating in a diverse
group presents several challenges. In particular, it forces each team
member to regularly rethink and often recalibrate their views. These
actions (though very necessary) are sometimes difficult because many of
us have a hard time considering or admitting when we are wrong or when
our way of doing things is not necessarily the best way to get things
done.

Fortunately there was no one in our group who was too
terribly rigid that they couldn’t see past their own methodologies.
Hence this is not where I encountered most of my challenges. These
unforeseen happenstances transpired as a result of the inverse scenario;
explicitly some team members became discouraged when their ideas were
not adopted by the group and began to withdraw.

Consensus is my
preferred way to lead and always has been. So I recognized I was
indirectly responsible for the withdrawal that was occurring. In
consequence, I had to upgrade my management strategy to account for this
unanticipated offshoot.

In time I came up with the perfect
solution. I met individually with those who were withdrawn from the
group and reassured them that they were critical to the team’s success.
More importantly I told them why. In doing so, I reminded them why I
hired them and described future scenarios where I was confident their
expertise and background would be crucial to the team’s continued
success.

The lesson I learned then was sure – there are peaks and
valleys in everyone’s life. For that reason, we can not allow for the
valleys to cause us to lose sight of the value of our role as it
pertains to the group’s success. Neither can we allow the peaks to
deceive us into believing we’re “all that,” for no one person will ever
exceed the value and potential of a progressive group or society.

What
it all comes down to is this – the world needs you. You don’t have to
take my word for it. Just consider all of your offices in life and ask
yourself this question – who is better suited to fulfill each of my
offices than me?

See I’m convinced the vast majority of us have at
least one life office which no one can fulfill better than we can. For
those of you who are unconvinced, this does not mean the world doesn’t
need you. Quite the contrary; what the world needs is for you to find a
way to succeed in the offices you were called to and in the roles you
were destined to fulfill.

Now the cause behind this need is
certain and one which I hope you will never forget. Therefore I will
offer it as an interest point.

This matter lends itself to why
societies degenerate. It is because critical roles are not being
fulfilled by the person best suited to fulfill them. Consequently, the
correlating offices are either empty or occupied by someone less
qualified – and alas, everyone involved will suffer the consequences in
the end and after all.

BE YOURSELF

“Everybody has an office,” I declared to an adult group to whom I was delivering a spiritual lecture.
“The
problem,” I told them, “is that many fail to recognize their purpose in
life because they are fatally trying to be someone they’re not.” Then I
shared with them a profound statement which I will offer as another
interest point.

Understandably death in this context is
not literal. It is figurative. That is to say, the longer you try to be
someone you’re not, the farther you will migrate away from your true
self. Stay on this path long enough and you will be so far removed from
your true self that he or she will be metaphorically deceased – and as
it is scarcely possible, we all perceive the likelihood of raising
someone from the dead (metaphorically or literally).

Now I was
able to make this decisive declaration for one simple cause – I had been
there. Admittedly, I knew what it was like to lose sight of my true
self because I was too busy trying to be someone who I thought was
better than me; namely someone who I thought the world would better
appreciate.
That’s when I realized I had effectually become a
self-contradiction. By trying to be someone I was not, I was
contradicting my own existence as well as decreasing my personal value.

While
on this regressive road, I began to understand the nature of our world
and found it to be similar to that of a spoiled child. You know the
type. You’ve seen them throwing themselves out in grocery stores and
acting unruly in restaurants all across the country. The $500 question
is simply why?

Here’s the answer – a spoiled child doesn’t really
know what they want. Consequently, the worst thing for them is a parent
who constantly bends over backwards to meet their child’s unrealistic
and unfounded demands, for these actions only work to reinforce the
deficits of the child. This is true even though the parent is merely
trying to be appreciated by giving the child what they presume he or she
wants.

What these parents fail to realize is tragically classic;
that is the child does not know what he or she wants. This is precisely
why they are often only able to appreciate one thing; that is a parent
who will stop spoiling them and teach them the true meaning of
appreciation.

Trust me; it’s bad business when you have parents
trying to befriend a child, for every parent should focus first and
foremost on being a credible authority as this is the first step in
effectively raising children. This is especially the case during their
informative years.

How does this example relate to you and the
world? Well I’ll tell you. The world is like a spoiled child in that it
is by default inappreciative. Consequently, it will never appreciate
those who bend over backwards trying to be someone they presume everyone
will accept. On the contrary, the only way the world will appreciate
you is if you stop trying to be everyone’s friend and start being
yourself.

Again I ask you to trust me and faithfully consider the
following statement – being yourself is the only thing you’ll ever truly
be good at. This truism speaks to another interest point.

On
this wise, the one sure way to tell if you appreciate yourself is by
determining how committed you are to being yourself. Or as the young
people tell it, “Just do you.”

Certainly
this is the only way you will ever unlock your personal mystery because
again, as the young people say, you are “keeping it real.” In essence,
you are being yourself in every situation. This allows people to know
what to expect out of you regardless of the situation or circumstances
you are in.

Markedly this is exactly
when the world will begin to appreciate you, for you will have proven
yourself to be reliable – and who doesn’t appreciate someone who they
can consistently count on?
All the same,
as wonderful as this occasion is, enduring appreciation does not come
painlessly.

Neither does it come quickly. Contrasting, it comes tenderly
and gradually. The same way a small child does not instantly appreciate
the discipline of a wise parent, the world will not immediately
appreciate the value of an authentic man or woman.

Do
not be troubled by this reality, for in time this value will surely be
realized. You just have to be committed to standing up for yourself even
when you’re standing alone – and there will be several instances when
you are.

ARE YOU READY TO WALK THE PATH?

How
does this all relate to living a life of purpose? Decisively everything
we have discussed thus far is only possible if we have effectively
established our unique purposes in life. In this regard, your life
purposes (i.e. the distinct causes which collective constitute your
purpose) are like tour guides. Their job is to guide you along the path
which leads to your destiny.

As for me, I’ve walked this path in
my life and have achieved awesome levels of fulfillment and success.
From now, I want to share what I have learned by leaving behind
breadcrumbs for others to follow. Therefore, the following pages of this
book will speak to the aforementioned path of fulfillment and provide
various life examples for both validation and understanding.

All
things considered, everything in life is a choice (with the lone
exception of physiological involuntary actions). Thus conclusively, if
you choose to follow this path, I can make you the following guarantee –
even though you will endure various seasons of grind and change, you
will eventually acquire the greatest measures of fulfillment and success
the world has to offer. That’s my personal guarantee.

So if this
pledge sounds like a good deal to you, keep reading this book. I’m going
to show you how I got there and how you can get there too.

On the
other hand, if you decide not to follow this path or some similar path,
I can guarantee you the opposite. Regrettably you will fail to acquire
the greatest measures of fulfillment and success while never realizing
your true potential. Furthermore, you will still endure various seasons
of grind and change.

Granted this is not the classic life-or-death
scenario; not even close. However, the quality of your life is at
stake. Thus the question of the hour is simply this – how much
fulfillment and success are you prepared to leave on the table?

THE SUMMATION

The
majority of us will reach a point in our lives where we discover that
we are not authentic reflections of the man or woman inside. As an
ill-advised traveler, we’ve deviated from the beaten path and gotten
lost.

All the same, course correction is not a difficult matter.
All we need is a map. Enter: the Pinnacle of Purpose, a dedicated
roadmap which provides purposeful direction along the path which leads
to true you and concludes with the greatest allotment of fulfillment and
success this life can afford.

What is more, the Pinnacle of
Purpose (as illustrated in this composition) provides ample instructions
and advice on how to handle various situations which could potentially
cause us to lose our way. This manner of intelligence is critical
because our world is unfortunately filled with haters and doubters.
Disappointingly these losers in life are going to invest time in
throwing stones at us as we carry on our quest.

Now in submitting
this warning, I would advise each reader not to be overly concerned
about this matter. See I’m not only going to show you how to become
immune to these unwarranted acts. I’m also going to show you how to use
these stones to help you get to where you are going.

Advantageously I’m
going to show you how to turn their throwing stones into your stepping
stones.
Last but surely not least, I’m going to lay a foundation
for achieving self- actualization by discussing the importance of
excelling in each of our life offices – and although the full disclosure
of this process will be addressed in the next composition in this
series, it is imperative for each purpose seeker to understand how
important it is to always give our best effort in every life situation.
For once we establish this model way of living, and everything else will
begin to seamlessly fall into place.

This brings me to my final world
on this lecture.

No matter what anyone
tells you, the world needs you. Therefore, if you don’t know who you
are, it’s time you found out. Only then will you be truly appreciated
and wholly succeed in those offices you were called to fulfill.